Feeding your Dog Raw Meat and Bones

[knittychickadee]

Sounds like where I am headed. Thanks for the info. My chickens are still young.

I do wish that I could afford better meat than chicken for my dogs. They always get part of my hunting and fishing bounty. I haven't found beef anywhere here that's in my budget. Where are you getting yours? I was told the other day that the Greyhound racers were buying from some livestock company south of me so I'll be looking into that.

I have trained and competed with Working K9's for over 30 years and it's amazing how much healthier my dogs are than a lot of others in that world. They can flat out, out perform dogs on a Commercial Bagged Diet.

How do you deal with their poop? You can just crush it under your boots but it's piled up a little. Water doesn't seem to pulverize it into dust. Needs some force.

I have several freezers and buy in bulk from a local meat processing plant, raw dog food co-op, I watch for sales for the cheaper cuts like pot roast, boneless round steak and stock up. I order some things online from http://www.hare-today.com/ like green tripe, beef lung, whole rabbits. Beef heart and tongue are cheap around here so I get plenty of those too. Ethnic stores have good prices on lamb and such. I also have several friends who are deer hunters and tell them I will take anything they don't want and take any freezer burned older venison meat from them too. I've gotten almost entire deer this way from one fellow who enjoys the hunt but only wants a couple select cuts for himself. I wish I could talk them into bringing me the green tripe but none of them will mess with it. They do bring me any other organs I want so I always ask for lungs, trachea, heart if they dont want it, liver etc. and I get tons of legs which are good for recreational chews and teeth cleaning with all the fur, tendons and hooves. I take them away once she is down to the bare bones. (Goose hunters are a good free source too even though not red meat, many cut out the breast and leave the rest) Also mention to all friends that you feed raw. A friend of ours just filled a freezer with a new beef and he gave me all they had left from their last beef, he also gave me some new cuts he didn't want, plus the tongue and heart and a fifteen lb turkey (his wife had bought several on sale the year before and never used them all). All so he had room for the new beef.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

You said yourself you went to vet school over 30 years ago. I urge you to look at what is being taught now. I can guarantee with certainty that a lot has changed. Vets barely make enough money to pay back their loans. If there was that much money in selling commercial pet food, everyone would go that route.

For some ailments, there are few options for owners. I do not believe raw to always be the answer. Diet, especially when it comes to medical issues, should be evaluated on an individual basis.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

If corporate America was somehow funding veterinary education, there would be far less student debt.

 

[K9Dave]

You said yourself you went to vet school over 30 years ago. I urge you to look at what is being taught now. I can guarantee with certainty that a lot has changed. Vets barely make enough money to pay back their loans. If there was that much money in selling commercial pet food, everyone would go that route.

For some ailments, there are few options for owners. I do not believe raw to always be the answer. Diet, especially when it comes to medical issues, should be evaluated on an individual basis.

I never said I went to vet school 30 years ago. I'm only 38.

 

[nzpouter]

We fed raw, contact your local butcher/ slaughterhouse for cheap meat, bones and offal. We also give whole prey like ducks, chickens, pigeons, fish and rabbits.

 

[K9Dave]

I have several freezers and buy in bulk from a local meat processing plant, raw dog food co-op, I watch for sales for the cheaper cuts like pot roast, boneless round steak and stock up. I order some things online from http://www.hare-today.com/  like green tripe, beef lung, whole rabbits. Beef heart and tongue are cheap around here so I get plenty of those too. Ethnic stores have good prices on lamb and such. I also have several friends who are deer hunters and tell them I will take anything they don't want and take any freezer burned older venison meat from them too. I've gotten almost entire deer this way from one fellow who enjoys the hunt but only wants a couple select cuts for himself. I wish I could talk them into bringing me the green tripe but none of them will mess with it. They do bring me any other organs I want so I always ask for lungs, trachea, heart if they dont want it, liver etc. and I get tons of legs which are good for recreational chews and teeth cleaning with all the fur, tendons and hooves. I take them away once she is down to the bare bones. (Goose hunters are a good free source too even though not red meat, many cut out the breast and leave the rest) Also mention to all friends that you feed raw.  A friend of ours just filled a freezer with a new beef and he gave me all they had left from their last beef, he also gave me some new cuts he didn't want, plus the tongue and heart and a fifteen lb turkey (his wife had bought several on sale the year before and never used them all). All so he had room for the new beef.

You've given me a few ideas. I've never really stressed it to friends for their scraps. I have a Goose Hunter friend that goes all the time. I also have neighbors who use a lot of the intestines but they're Hispanic and I think it's a big part of their diet. I've never seen offal so expensive. I have to drive to the other side of town to get a good price. Lol. I have a butcher around the corner who gives me as much pork as I want but still not sure about raw pork. What's your view on that?

 

[knittychickadee]

I am presenting another side to the raw diet argument. I am not against raw diets but I feel owners need to hear both sides of the story, just as I would present all options for any medical issue so the owner can make the right decision for them. Vets are guides, and should provide information needed to help owners. I'm sorry if you have had negative experiences that caused you feel this way towards vets.

I do think it's good to hear both pros and cons. I've seen some scary poor diets being fed and these are the ones that turn the vets against home prepared diets. Heck I'm not a vet and they scare me. Raw feeders need to research canine nutrition so they have some idea of what constitutes a nutritionally sufficient diet (a couple good reads are Nutrient Requirements of Dogs and Cats by the National Research Council, and Optimal Nutrition: Raw and Cooked Canine Diets by Monica Segal) There are risks such as perforations and broken teeth from bones, etc. I've been on raw feeding sites for many years and know its not always rosy and perfect just because someone feeds a raw diet instead of kibble. You have to balance the pros and cons and decide if the benefits are worth it to you, and also do what you can to lower the risks. Some problems are 'operator error' and not the diet itself. Its also a lot more work than just pouring kibble in a bowl; between shopping, packaging, storing, and having to remember to thaw.

 

[knittychickadee]

You've given me a few ideas. I've never really stressed it to friends for their scraps. I have a Goose Hunter friend that goes all the time. I also have neighbors who use a lot of the intestines but they're Hispanic and I think it's a big part of their diet. I've never seen offal so expensive. I have to drive to the other side of town to get a good price. Lol. I have a butcher around the corner who gives me as much pork as I want but still not sure about raw pork. What's your view on that?

I have no problem with raw pork. I think the usual fear is of trichinosis, but its a non issue in pork in the u.s that is commercially grown. I don't feed much of it only because my dog isn't super fond of it. I have friends that feed a lot of pork roast because it is super cheap in their area.

 

[subhanalah]

I have no problem with raw pork. I think the usual fear is of trichinosis, but its a non issue in pork in the u.s that is commercially grown. I don't feed much of it only because my dog isn't super fond of it. I have friends that feed a lot of pork roast because it is super cheap in their area.

I have to ask for some clarification here.
How can you state this? I've known it to be false and would like to know more, thank you!

 

[knittychickadee]

I have to ask for some clarification here.
How can you state this? I've known it to be false and would like to know more, thank you!

There has been a handful of cases in the last ten years or so, most from wild game like wild boar and bear. The chance of getting it back in 2009 was something like 1 in 154 million and that was from all sources wild game included. Commercial pork is not allowed to be fed raw garbage any longer, feeding dead pig parts back to pigs in the past was the main way it was passed. Freezing the meat will also kill it if the small possibility of it bothers you. Do you know of specific cases of commercial pork having it?